Breathing

breathing, an operation, believed beneficial by some consumers, involving pulling the cork and letting the open bottle stand for a few hours before it is poured. In fact, in such circumstances the wine can take only the most minimal of ‘breaths’, and any change is bound to be imperceptible (except possibly in the case of bottle sickness). The surface area of wine exposed to the air is so small that the effects of any aeration as a result of this operation are negligible. See decanting for details of effective aeration.